Gulf shrimp industry wins round in fight

A federal trade agency has sided with Gulf of Mexico shrimp industry officials who are seeking an investigation into whether seven countries are unfairly subsidizing shrimp sold in the U.S.

Keith MagillExecutive Editor

A federal trade agency has sided with Gulf of Mexico shrimp industry officials who are seeking an investigation into whether seven countries are unfairly subsidizing shrimp sold in the U.S.The U.S. International Trade Commission determined Thursday that there is a “reasonable indication” that the domestic shrimp industry has been injured by subsidized imports from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries, which claims to represent processors and other industry interests in Louisiana and half a dozen other states, filed petitions Dec. 28 seeking tariffs or other trade actions against the nations.The U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation Jan. 18. The Trade Commission's 5-1 preliminary ruling Thursday allows the Commerce Department to expand that investigation, which is expected to lead to a preliminary decision by March 25.A final decision by the Trade Commission is expected late this year. Commerce has not set a time frame for its final decision. Approval from both agencies is required before any trade actions are enacted.“Today, we cleared another hurdle on the path to obtain relief from massive and unfair government support of their industries in seven key shrimp exporting nations,” David Veal, the Gulf coalition's executive director, said in a news release.“We look forward to further developing our case against foreign shrimp subsidies before both the ITC and the DOC,” said Eddy Hayes, a Gulf coalition attorney. “The cases will now move on to determine the level of subsidization. The very survival of the U.S. Gulf shrimp community from the boats to the processors is at stake here.”Elizabeth Drake, the lead attorney for the coalition's case, said the domestic shrimp-processing industry and its suppliers need a tariff to offset the “injurious effects of massive subsidies provided by our trading partners to their shrimp producers.”“Relief would give the U.S. shrimp industry the opportunity to compete under free and fair market conditions,” she said.The investigation applies only to frozen warm-water shrimp packed in sauce or spices. It does not apply to cold-water, breaded or fresh shrimp.The coalition says the federal agencies' final rulings could affect a combined $4.3 billion worth of shrimp imports from the seven nations.